Redecoration
by jaks224
Summary: She interests me, so why don't I feel the need to dissect her? Marie seems to have a strange power over Stein. SteinxMarie, light Soma / Soul x Maka and Tsubaki x Black star.
1. Confused

Stein was confused. He turned the screw in his head. Why was he letting her do this? Lord Death had told him that even though both the Kishin and Medusa were dead the madness may linger on inside him for some time and has decided that Marie should stay with him a while longer. This didn't however explain why he was with her shopping for paint. He understood that she wanted to repaint her room and add things to his house, she was staying there and I seem to be the only one who drinks out of beakers and cut food with a scalpel. But he didn't understand why he was letting her.

If Spirit or anyone else for that matter had move into his house and redecorate I would stop them, quickly and more than likely painfully. But with Marie it felt… different. I felt like he had to let her, he had no idea why. Maybe it was the way she pouted when we disagreed. It was… distracting. Or maybe it was the way she smiled when they agreed, he had caught himself smiling back multiple times, not a sadistic smile but a… happy smile? I think it's was happy at least. Even though she caught his attention, he didn't feel the need to dissect her.

"Stein?" I turned to her, "Which shade of yellow do you think would go best?"

She was holding two virtually identical pots of paint, I couldn't tell the difference, and they were both a mustard colour, "The darker one Marie."

She surprisingly seemed to know which one was darker and put the other one back.

"Right, now we just need the brushes" she smiled, swinging the paint as she walked.

Again, that feeling when I see her happy, there it is again. As much as I hate to admit it maybe I should talk with Spirit about this, he knows more about women than I do.

"Stein, come on" Marie called from the end of the isle.

I quickly caught up.

"So Stein, what do you want for dinner tonight?" She asked me.

I shrugged, "Probably pasta."

"Macaroni?" she asked.

I nodded.

She smiled, "Great, I've got something special for desert."

"Marie?"

"Yes Stein?"

"You realise we've ended up in the garden department, right?"

When we finally got back to the house I went straight to my lab to have a cigarette. I slouched in my chair, hands behind my head. Why don't I want to dissect her? When something interests me I usually cut it open. But With Marie… well perhaps with her observation is more important than experimentation. But what can I learn for observing her? How to cook, how to make a bed and how to get lost easily. None of these things interest me, yet she does.

I looked at the phone, pinned to the wall, ever since Marie had it installed. She had been the only one to use it. I took a drag, maybe Spirit does know about this, pushing off my desk and rolled toward the phone. There was a small book with people's phone numbers inside. I flicked through until I found Spirit.

I pressed the numbers and heard a dull ringing.

"Hello?"

"Spirit, its Stein"

"Stein, using a phone?! And phoning me of all people? What did you run out of things to dissect?"

I pinched my brow, "No it's about Marie."

"What about her."

"I don't quite know how to explain it, she's drawing my attention yet I don't feel the need to dissect her."

"Finally admitting it are we Stein?"

"Admitting what?"

"Come on, you smile all the time when she's around, and she clearly cares about you."

"Get to the point Spirit."

"The point is that Stein, the mad scientist with no emotions has, by some miracle, fallen in love with cute, innocent Marie."

"I don't think I understand love, I seriously doubt that I feel it" I replied.

"Then why are you letting her redecorate parts of your house?" he asked, "With you money."

"How do you know that?" I asked him.

"Because, she's been telling everyone, student, teachers and death-scythes alike. She seems proud of herself and she should be, getting you of all people to show positive emotion and kindness."

I hadn't had much to spend my salary on besides experiments over the years and most of it had just sat in the bank.

"I wasn't planning on using the money so she might as well use it."

"In that case can I have some money?"

"No."

"You see!" he shouted, "You won't help your first weapon but you'll help Marie."

I took a long drag from my cigarette.

"Stein, there comes a time in almost every man's life when they want to settle down with a woman, and it's happened you. Just like it did me."

"And I suppose that's why Kami left you and Maka hates you."

I heard Spirit thud as he hit the ground, mumbling something about loving Mama and Maka the most.

He quickly got back up, "Just because I have trouble settling down with just one woman instead of three doesn't mean you will."

I took another drag from my cigarette, ignoring him.

"Don't worry Stein I'll make sure to get her some dirty lingerie for her birthday, you'll thank me, you may be the professor Stein but I'm the doctor of lov-

I slammed the phone down. Love, I doubt it. It's just my soul mellowing in the presence of a close friend. It was the same back when we were students, occasionally she could stop me from dissecting an animal if she considered it "too cute to dissect." It's just her anti-madness wavelength calming me I attempted to convince myself. But why am I so interested in her?

I heard a knock at my door, "Stein?" she looked around the door, "You're not dissecting anything at the moment are you?"

"No Marie come in" I replied.

She opened the door with her foot, carrying two mugs of coffee. She was surprised to see me next to the phone. I took what was left the cigarette out of my mouth and rolled toward my desk, putting it in the ash tray. She handed me a cup, black no sugar, just how I like it. I took a drink.

"Who were you talking to?" she asked.

"Just Spirit, trying to get me to help him with Maka" I half lied.

"Oh, alright" she replied, "Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes."


	2. Dessert

Stein swallowed his last spoonful of macaroni. He preferred smaller meals as, he had become accustomed to living mostly off of cigarettes and coffee but when Marie had first arrived and insisted on cooking, it felt good to have a decent meal inside of him. On more than one occasion she had attempted to teach him but he ended up dissecting the food instead of cooking it, trying to decipher how the animal had died or what it had been eating over its lifetime. Pasta was an exception, he felt he could eat it without having to understand it. He didn't need to cut it up, it was already the right size for him to consume.

I noticed Marie had finished to and went to take her bowl to the, recently installed, dishwasher but she quickly stopped me.

"No Stein," she took her bowl back, "I don't want you seeing the desert I've made."

She smiled, picked up my bowl and skipped off toward the kitchen. After she disappeared I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes and winding my screw. It usually happened at dinner, mostly during dessert. Whether she baked a cake or prepared fruit salad he would end up smiling and she would smile back. She put far too much work into her desserts, be it their intricate designs or the balance of taste and texture. Usually we wouldn't be able to finish it and she would usually end up handing it out to her students.

One day she had come through with a cheese board, she had made most of the cheese herself, Different types like blue, Swiss or even some with seaweed through it. However I took one look at the sharp, clean knives and was sure the madness would kick and I would end up cutting either myself open or her open. But it didn't happen, I smiled and she smiled back. We both left with exactly the same number of scars as we had entered with and all of our organs arranged correctly.

I heard footsteps behind me and was about to open my eyes when I felt something being fastened around them.

I was about to jump out of my chair and attempt to soul force my attacker when I realised who's soul it was.

"No peaking" I heard Marie tell me before I heard her footsteps again.

Her soul seemed more playful than usual, which is quite the feat for her. She would check up on me often either when I was dissecting or marking papers, if I was doing the latter she would insist on marking hers with me. I heard her footsteps again, accompanied by the sound of two bowls and I think a plate being placed on the table.

"Marie I can't eat like this" I told her.

I heard a spoon clink, "Open wide."

I hesitantly opened my mouth feeling slightly embarrassed at the situation, I'm a grown man I can feed myself.

She put the spoon in, lemon, defiantly lemon in some form of cake with a biscuit base topped with dark chocolate, and it tasted cold to so clearly ice cream too, probably homemade.

"Well?"

"Lemon ice cream pie, the pie has a dark chocolate and biscuit base and I'm guessing you made the ice cream fresh from the cow I plan to dissect in class on Monday" I replied, "This is a repeat on the first dessert you ever made during your stay in this house."

She took the blindfold off, "You're no fun Stein."

"It's not as if your desserts are bland Marie" I replied, looking down at my massive portion with even more in the middle of the table, "Back then it had been the first dessert I had had in years. Probably my favourite dessert for that very reason."

She smiled, "So you do remember."

I smiled back, having been reminded of one of the few memories I consider happy, "I don't understand why you try so hard with cooking."

"Well you're letting me stay in your house, and decorate that room of course, with your money to, you should be thanked" she looked down to the food, a light pink hue covering her cheeks.

That happened every so often as well, I ate as I thought, it's frankly more distracting than both her smiling and her pouting combined. She looked almost… cute. Professor Stein, the mad meister just considered another human being cute. This is clearly some form of insanity previously undocumented. I could happily dissect a puppy or a kitten, according to Marie they are two of the cutest animals on this planet and yet I just considered her as cute. Does calling something cute just mean you don't feel the need to dissect it? I doubt it.

If Spirit or any of my class caught wind of that, especially the Thompson sisters I would never hear the end of it. Professor Stein thinking of Miss Marie as cute, "she's always wanted to get married Stein", "drop the scalpel and give it a shot", "have a giraffe themed wedding".

The Thompsons had noticed a connection between Soul and Maka, at least once a week I'd hear it, I'd be mid dissection when suddenly I'd hear mumbling behind me and when I turn I would find an embarrassed Maka attempting to pay attention to the dissection, Soul pretending to be asleep face down at his desk, even though his soul read otherwise, and the Thompson sisters smirking and giggling at them, a scalpel just above their heads seemed to fix that. I'd occasionally find scrunched up pieces of paper with "Dating Tips" written on them, aimed toward the scythe and meister. Fortunately Maka's grades have remained constant and I'm sure that Soul's would be terrible regardless. But if they heard about me not wanting to dissect Marie, I'm certain they'd be drawn like a moth to a flame. I can see it now leaving notes at the bottom of tests, attempting to blackmail me into giving them extra marks for their "Dating tips".

Then again, I could just get rid of them, I've never dissected a human in front of the class, I could teach them about similarities and differences between twins and their souls. I doubt Kidd would allow me to corrupt their symmetry with scars though, he always complained when my cuts weren't symmetrical, always insisting on eight stitches when I returned the intestines to their owner. I had a hard time finding a symmetrical cow for Monday.

We finished half the cake and Marie put the other half in the fridge. I got a cup of coffee and made my way to Marie's bright purple couch in the middle of my grey living room.


	3. Marking

Maka A+, Ox A, Harvar A-, Tsubaki B, Kim B, Jaqueline B, Crona C, Kilik C, Liz D, Soul D-. Then my marking became a little more… interesting. Kid had, once again, failed answered a single question, his name wasn't even complete, F. Black Star claiming his name is the godly answer to everything, F. Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder had each drawn a rather poor picture of me dissecting a frog, D+ for accuracy. Patty had one again made an origami giraffe, F.

I placed my marking down on the table and leaned back. Marie was sitting next to me watching some soap opera on the television. I don't really see the point in television, why spend your life watching other people do things when you could be doing them yourself. She'd tried to get me to watch this one as it was about Doctors, however I declined when I realised quite how poor their medical science was. People died all the time in this particular hospital and even when they did save someone the procedure was usually incorrect and that same person would end up in hospital again next month.

I drank some more of my coffee. Marie was completely enveloped in the story. She was basically crying alongside one of the cast members. Wait she's crying? I can rarely show emotion and yet she's crying over a T.V. program. I don't think I've even smiled reading a book. I felt something grasp my hand. I looked at it to find Marie had grabbed it. I looked at her, her single eye was still full of water but she seemed to have calmed down for the most part.

If anyone else was holding my hand I'm sure they would be screaming in fear, yet she looked, calm. I lightly squeezed her hand, just observation, just want to see her reaction, nothing more. A trivial experiment. Then I felt her head on my shoulder. Her tears were gone and in their place that light pink hue. I honestly expected her to be afraid but she looks… happy. And from her soul I can tell she is… comfortable?

Why would anyone feel comfortable, much less look happy in my presence? I'm a mad doctor shouldn't she be running away. Emotions are mental, we can't dissect them. Not even our own. If it calms her then so be it. The two hour long program finally came to a close. I looked at the wall clock, 00:30. I turned to Marie to find her asleep, her face in my shoulder.

I need to teach tomorrow and I can't sleep like this and I doubt Marie would enjoy waking up next to a mad scientist known for cutting things open. She'd probably expect a row of stitches along her stomach. I got up, careful not to let her fall over. I set the pillows beneath her head. I was about to get her a blanket when I realised she was still holding my hand. I gently untangled our fingers and got her a blanket. I tucked her in and went to my bedroom. I took off my lab coat, glasses and shoes before laying down, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

I was in a room. A small room where the only light was being shone directly into my eyes. I looked down to find myself tied to a chair.

"Why did you do it Stein?" I heard a voice ask.

"Who's there? Do what?" I asked.

A figure stepped closer.

"Spirit-

"You know what you did!" He shouted at me, "Why did you cut Marie open!"

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about Spirit Marie is fi- I turned to see Marie, strapped into an operating table, torso cut open, organs spread out on the table. Impossible, I've never craved her dissection. I attempted to get up and help her, only for the chair to hold me down.

"Let me go Spirit, let me operate, I can fix her dam it!"

"She's dead Stein" he told me.

"Are you a doctor!? And even so I brought Sid back I can do the same for-

"He clearly can't control himself" that voice.

"Medusa" I snarled, facing her.

There she was, flesh and bone, veins and arteries. I'm angry, and she's ready to be dissected, I, once again, attempted to get up.

"He's obviously dangerous" she started, "After all, he cut you open to Spirit. I think he needs a taste of his own medicine."

She had a scalpel, as did Spirit, they gleamed in the light, sharp edge ready to cut me open.

"No, I swear I didn't, I wouldn't" they took a step forward, "No, stop, I'm telling you I would never hurt Marie, I'm telling you, stop! You did it Medusa, you witch! DON'T CUT ME O-

"Stein?" I blinked.

I was outside.

"What are you doing? You woke me up" that voice, Marie.

I turned there she was, yawning and rubbing her good eye.

"It's a bit cold to be out bare foot isn't it?" she asked me, "What're you doing with that scalpel?"

I looked at my hand, there it was gleaming in the moon light. Was it all a dream? I cranked my screw.

"Marie, how did I get out here?" I asked her.

"Well I woke up on the couch after you brushed passed me, mumbling something about Spirit, then you- she paused, "Wait Stein was it the madness again?"

She looked concerned, "Yes, I believe it was."

She grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the house "You're sleeping with me tonight."

"Marie-

"Don't even try to argue, you're not running away from me again Franken" she told me, pulling me harder, "I'm not losing you again."

She rarely calls me Franken. Only when she's concerned.

"What if I end up hurting you?" I pulled her to a halt.

She paused, "Franken, besides when Medusa was manipulating you, you've never tried to hurt me, not even when you're insane. I trust you."

She continued to pull me. We made it inside the house.

"Why?" I asked.

She stopped again, "Why what?"

"Why do you trust me? I cut up Spirit, what makes you think it won't end up happening to you eventually?" I asked.

"Well you're strong, smart and, though others may not believe me, kind. I know you can beat the madness, after all there's not a stitch on me" she pulled me up the stairs, "And for the record, if I was forced to share a room with Spirit, I'm would probably end up wanting to cut him open to."

I smiled at her joke. She trusts me and even after having another madness attack I don't feel like dissecting her but something else when I imagined her cut open, I felt… scared? Fear? I've see human innards all the time, hell I've seen my own, but when I saw hers fear and panic gripped me.

She let go of my hand outside of her door.

"I'm just going to change Stein, I'll only be a few minutes."


	4. Interruption

She pulled me into the room. The room was already fairly yellow, the sunflowers and bed sheets were both a mustard colour. She pulled my lab coat off me and hung it up, before climbing into her bed.

"Well, come on then" she patted the bed next to her.

I looked at her bed and turned my screw, that bed was made for one person, how is this going to work?

"Marie, this bed was designed for one person" I reminded her, "I'll go sleep in my room-

"No, Franken" she stopped me, "You taught the students being close to their weapons helps their souls resonate. That's why they sit together in class, the closer I am to you the less likely the madness will come up again."

Her logic was sound. I climbed into the bed with her. Upon laying down I noticed the pink hue on Marie's face. We were incredibly close and the bed was incredibly small. My arm was dangling over the edge and I'm certain the smaller part of my screw was poking Marie.

"Stein?" I rolled over to face her.

"Do you mind if I?" she motioned toward my chest.

I shrugged, unsure of what she was going to do "Go ahead."

She moved and rested her head on my chest. Strange. I took my pulse, my heart rate has increased. Concentrated resonance increases your heart rate but a meister and weapon merely touching should have little to no affect on it. She was smiling. I rested my head and quickly drifted off.

I had work the next day. Marie and I take turns teaching. Spirit said it was because students need to be taught more than how to dissect animals. I rolled into the classroom, falling on the threshold once again. I got up and dragged my chair over to my desk. Some of the students had noticed the big box in the middle of the room.

"Alright class, today we will be dissecting a cow" I undid the lock and the cow stumbled out.

The students were clearly horrified. They need to get used to the sight of blood, after all they are fighting pre keshin. I sedated the cow and pulled out a scalpel.

"So who wants the first-

"Sorry to interrupt" I turned to the doorway.

"Spirit? I was just about to start."

"Lord Death wants to see you, he says it's urgent" Spirit replied.

"I take it you'll be teaching while I'm away?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"Well, mind the arteries or you'll drench the classroom in blood" I told him, handing him the scalpel and walking out.

I began to walk to the death room. What could her possibly want? I haven't dissected any of his pupils… yet.

I walked inside, "Lord Death?"

"Hiya, Hiya, Hiya, how's it goin' Stein?" the reaper asked, "Care for some tea?"

"I'm fine Lord Death, why did you summon me?" I asked, taking the tea.

He clapped his hands together, "Well, you see, I need your help examining a body."

"A body?" I questioned, taking a sip.

"Well, what's left of one" he moved out of the way to reveal a table with what looked like a lower torso on it.

"Only half?" I questioned, putting the cup down.

"Yes" he replied, "Unfortunately Sid could only find this half."

I adjusted my glasses, "Well she's clearly a woman, rather short, what's left of her wavelength shows her to be a witch and she shows signs of… magic damage."

The woman's lower torso had clearly been severed from her upper one, however where the blade had impacted there were signs of poison. The body stank.

I paused, I've only seen magic like this once, "The magic would seem similar to Medusa's Vector blade, I remember dealing with Crona's wound after Marie and I fought her, it was similar."

"I see, it's as I suspected" Lord Death sighed, taking a sip of tea.

"Lord Death?" I questioned.

"Medusa's soul was never harvested and I believe she, removed it from her body and possessed a vessel" he explained.

I froze, Medusa… alive.

"You see Sid's soul is stored inside his tombstone, it is plausible that Medusa has done something similar" Death told me, sipping his tea.

"Where was this body found" I asked him.

"Sid found it out in the desert" he replied, finishing his tea.

No wonder I had a madness attack last night. She's close, really close.

"Stein I want both you and Marie to take some time off" he informed me, "It's for the best that you're around Marie as much as possible."

I pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Does she know yet?" I asked him.

"I think you should be the one to tell her" he replied, "Make sure she's calm, and break it to her gently."

I took a drag from my cigarette.

"Also, I'm sending Crona with you" he informed me, "But I think it's for the best that he… she… it isn't informed."

"I agree, Marie and I will look after him."


	5. Family

"So nutty professor, why're we staying at your place?" Ragnarock asked, forming out of Crona's back.

I took a drag of my cigarette, my tenth today, "Because there's nowhere else for you two to stay."

"So we're stuck with you? You'd better have lots of candy!" Ragnarock shouted.

"Ragnarock stop it" Crona complained, "I don't know how to deal with that much candy."

"You'll eat as much candy as I tell you to!" Ragnarock snapped.

We finally reached my house. I opened the door.

"Stein your home early!" Marie cheered, almost tumbling down the stairs, "I was about to start cooking dinner."

"Yes I've got some… news" I turned the screw in my head.

Crona and Ragnarock popped their heads around the door.

"Well, Lord Death has asked us to look after these two" I told her, getting the easy bit out of the way, "They'll be living with us for… a while."

Marie stood there for a second, her one eye wide open, "It'll be like we're a family!"

She hugged Crona.

"I'm not related to any of you stupid humans!" Ragnarock exclaimed, attempting to wriggle out of her iron hug.

"Come on Ragnarock, you're Crona's big brother, I'm the Mother and Steins the D-Dad" she told him, letting Crona go.

"Well in that case you two had better get to work making me better siblings than this runt!" Ragnarock snapped.

Marie had that pink hue again.

"That's not all Marie" I told her before turning to Crona, "You two, go get used to the place. Don't touch anything in the lab."

Ragnarock forced Crona toward the living room.

I took a final drag of my cigarette, "Marie what I'm about to tell you may, no, is going to scare you."

"Is something wrong Stein?" she questioned, staring up at me.

"The madness last night, there was a reason behind it" I tightened my screw, "Lord Death sent Crona to stay with us because… we have reason to believe that Medusa is still alive."

She gasped, clearly afraid, "But Maka and Soul, we saw them kill her."

"Her Soul was never retrieved" I told her.

Marie grappled me into a tight hug, "She's not taking you again Stein, and she's not going to split us up again."

I lightly returned the hug, "She won't Marie, I'm supposed to stay here with you and Crona until she's killed."

"Promise?" she asked into my chest.

"I promise" her soul calmed.

"If you break that promise, I'll break your legs" she mumbled into my chest, "Then you'll never be able to leave."

"Marie, calm down" I told her.

"It's true, they call me Marie the pulveriser for a reason" she looked up at me, "Do Crona and Ragnarock know?"

"No, Lord Death doesn't think it's a good idea to tell them" I replied.

She nodded, "But where are they going to sleep?"

I hadn't thought of that.

"Well it worked last night so I guess I could sleep with you again" I told her, "Crona can have my bed, as long as he doesn't touch my experiments."

The pink hue was massive, and almost red, "Y-yes that could work."

"Professor Stein?" I heard Crona question from the living room.

We walked through to the living room.

"Where should I put my things?" Crona questioned, he/she had a small bag containing school stuff, spare clothes, etc.

"Just put your stuff in there" I told him/her, pointing toward my bedroom door, "You'll be sleeping in there, don't touch the scalpels or my cigarettes."

"I'll smoke if I feel like it!" Ragnarock shouted.

"I don't know how to deal with lung cancer" Crona pointed out, trudging toward my room.

I don't think there are many cigarettes in my room anyway, I'll need to buy some more.

"So we aren't going to tell them?" Marie questioned.

"No, Lord Death is right if we tell them they'll panic and might end up going back to her" I told her.

"Well, I'd better start making lunch" Marie told me, walking through to the kitchen.

I slumped down on Marie's purple couch. I'm not likely to hurt Marie out of madness but Crona? I don't know, I twisted my screw. I want to kill that witch but I know going out in this state is probably a bad idea. I heard the phone in my lab ring. I got up and ran through, lifting it off the receiver.

"Stein!"

"What do you want Spirit?"

"How do you wash all the blood out your clothes?!"

I smirked, evidently my experiment has gone aerie.

"Why did you phone?"

"Lord Death wanted me to check how things are going with you three- eh- four."

"Fine, I've told Marie, Crona and Ragnarock are settling in."

"Good, Kid and the twins have been sent out to look for Medusa."

"Any more information?"

"Nothing yet, another dead body though."

"Who?"

"Another witch, this time we only found her right arm and her left leg."

"Why would she attacking other witches?"

"No idea, Erika and Free have been put under the schools protection."

I twisted my screw, "Are we sure they're on our side?"

"Positive, according to Maka their souls show great fear."


	6. Yellow wall

I finished my lunch. I was watching the tadpoles swimming around in my beaker, their see-through skin allowing me an easy audience with their intestines. It helped to take my mind off the madness watching them go about their life, it must be so much easier for them. No witches, no madness, just water and bugs to eat. Growing bigger and stronger. Until they lay eggs of their own. That or they end up dissected… either way it's good.

I heard a knock on the door, "Professor Stein?"

I turned to face Crona and Ragnarock.

"Hey Freaken-Stein, Marie wants you upstairs" Ragnarock ordered, "And no, I doubt that's as fun as it sounds."

"I don't know how to deal with innuendos" Crona mumbled before walking off.

I began my slow assent up the stairs. I wonder what would happen if I was to throw someone down them. In all my years of fighting not once have I ever used stairs. I wonder how effective they would be, would each step be the equivalent of a well-placed punch or some form of manic attack with each step dealing a different amount of damage? How would they scale? Oh what a wonderful experiment that would-

"Stein can you help me?"

Marie was standing in her bedroom, paintbrush in hand and a tin of paint in the other. I cranked my screw, attempting to dispel my previous thoughts.

"I can't reach the higher bits."

I took the brush from her. She had missed a good three inches along the top. I began to run the brush along the upper bit.

"Marie you realise we'll be sleeping in here tonight, the smell will linger."

"I'll leave the window open" Marie told me, "I just thought it would be a good idea to start, you know take our minds off of what's happening."

"With a yellow wall?" I questioned.

"Well it's a happy colour" Marie told me.

"I didn't know colours had emotions."

"They don't" she told me, "But the colour yellow signifies happiness. It's just like how I've planned my future wedding according to colours."

She's talked about that wedding so many times I can remember every detail from the cakes to the cameraman. She's obsessive about getting married, even back when we were kids at Shibushen she would go on and on about the dresses, the vicar, the list goes on.

I finished painting. The previously grey room had one yellow wall, "it'll need another coat tomorrow."

"Tomorrow we'll do the whole room once over" Marie commanded, "Then the room will look far happier."

Great a day of painting instead of dissecting. Then again in my mental state it's probably for the best. I just hope I don't end up drinking the paint thinner.

"How's Crona doing?" Marie asked.

"Looks like she's doing fine" I replied.

"She?" Marie questioned, "I thought Crona was a boy."

"I'm guessing by this point" I told her.

We began to walk down the stairs, this time the thoughts didn't pop into my head. Not once did I even remotely think of smashing someone's head against them. She distracted me, pulled me away from the madness. I think I might be able to live normally around her, well as normally as a meister and weapon can live.

My phone rang and I was forced to leave Marie's company. It was Spirit again, a third body has been found.

"Witch again, this time's just plain weird though."

"Weird?"

Her tongue and her right eye are gone and besides her throat being cut there are no other injuries on the body. According to Nygus there's no sign of a struggle."

"Maybe she's using the body parts for some sort of ritual."

"What would she want to summon?"

"I don't know Stein but you should see this witch, her breasts are even bigger than Blair's! Now I understand why you dissect people, you must get to see tons of girls like this! If only she was still alive!"

"A murderous witch is going around and you're concerned with the dead woman's breast size and fantasizing about her being alive?"

"Well I know you're into chicks with one eye. If only her soul wasn't gone, we could bring her back like Sid. Then you'd have someone to practice on."

"… I'm sure that any day now Soul will surpass you, become Lord Death's weapon and you'll be transferred far away from Maka and since Kami has divorced you you'll be left with the thoughts of this dead woman… and her massive breasts. Well then again you've I'm pretty sure you've already had a go at bestiality with Blair I'm not surprised that you're into necrophilia."

I heard a thud as Spirit fell, "Daddy would never leave Maka, Daddy loves Maka and Mommy the most. Daddy isn't into necrophilia or bestiality, he swears. Daddy loves Mommy more than Blair or the dead woman. Mommy and Maka are special, he would never let Soul take his place."

This is almost as fun as cutting him open, "Also last night after you got drunk I switched your testicals with those of a German Shepard."

"YOU SWITCHED MY BALLS WITH ANOTHER MAN'S!" Spirit screamed into his end.

"No, with a dog's" I told him.

I hung up when I heard Spirit undo his belt to check his reproductive system for scars.

I reached for a cigarette and realised I'd ran out. Marie would throw a fit if she found out I'd left the house. I'll need to find a substitute, something to take my mind off the madness. I turned my screw. I turned to the tadpoles in my jar.

"Professor Stein?"

I turned to face Crona.

"Ragnarock is bored and he says he'll put scalpels in my socks if I don't find him something fun to do" Crona told me, "I don't know how to deal with scalpels in my socks."

"Go watch T.V." I told him/her, "That's what the rest of them do."

"Ragnarock got bored of it" Crona informed me.

"Why don't you go talk to Marie?" I asked.

"She went out, she said she was getting something for you."

"Well with her gone" I turned my screw, "How about we make up for the school time you've lost."


End file.
